


Fireworks

by Frumpologist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fireworks, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, beach holiday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 20:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frumpologist/pseuds/Frumpologist
Summary: On a holiday between sixth and seventh year, Sirius and James share a moment on the beach.





	Fireworks

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for The Melting Pot’s Christmas in July 2019 Fest! I was so excited to get to write for the prompts: Antigua + Fireworks, but these two scoundrels wouldn’t cooperate with the story I wanted to tell. So. This is a snapshot piece and I’m hoping to expand upon it in the future. :) Thanks to the group admins for putting this on — I love this event!

Travel by international portkey was not, as some claimed, easy and fun. For James Potter, travel by international portkey was more like being punched in the stomach with a gigantic fist and then ripped through a mouse hole as if one should actually fit through a space that small. The only redeeming quality was that it took no time at all to jump from rainy old England to sunshiney Antigua. The discomfort, he decided, was entirely worth it once the sun beat down on his face. 

An elbow crooked around the back of James’ neck and he was tugged sharply against a long, slender torso. James grinned as his hair was tousled and Sirius’ barking laugh rang next to his ear. 

“Mum and dad are the  _ best _ .” Sirius pushed him away gently. “A whole week here?”

“Yes, Sirius, a full week,” Euphemia Potter said with a smile and straightened the sunglasses over her eyes. “You two better behave yourselves, or so help me Merlin, I’ll make sure your final year at Hogwarts is terrorized by The Bloody Baron. We’re friends you know.” 

“Of course, mum,” Sirius agreed happily and with a proper two finger salute off his forehead. “I’ll keep James in line, I promise.”

Euphemia leveled him with a steady stare. “Go on, then. Enjoy the island while Montie and I check into the hotel.”

“C’mon, Prongs!” Sirius grabbed him around the neck again and dragged James into the white, sandy beach. “Bikinis and sunshine — does it get any better than this?” 

James shook his head, a wide grin on his face. “I suppose not. Have you ever seen water that clear?” 

And clear, it was. Crystal blue and so transparent that he could see the bottom of the bay as far as his eyes could see. Parasailers overhead waved at the plethora of people down below. Boats sped through the sea. The sun sparkled off the tide. It was truly the most magical place James had ever been, and he was certain that most of the beach was occupied by muggles.

“Once, but I’m pretty sure it was Holy Water and it wasn’t actually meant to be enjoyed as much as to banish the demons dwelling within my sinful host of a body.” Sirius shook his hips back and forth and waggled his eyebrows at James. “Fat lot of good it did, though. A whole muggle village and I’m never allowed back.” 

“You were terrorizing the nuns, Padfoot,” James laughed. “And you growled at the priest.”

“They were fit, Prongs. Just a little less frocking and a little more—”

“Don’t.” James covered his best mate’s mouth with his hand and dragged him to the shore of the ocean. “I’ll throw you in if you finish that sentence.” 

But he never actually got the chance to throw Sirius in. Instead, like a labrador in water, Sirius pranced into the sea and dragged James with him, clothes and all. That was how James’ parents found the boys at the break of sunset, wrestling into the dark sand under the rising tide, without a care in the world about the darkness creeping into their lives so many thousand miles away.

Night bled into the hot afternoon and brought with it a delicious breeze. After a full afternoon in the sun and water, James sported quite the golden tan. He and Sirius were forced to change into their swimming costumes. Euphemia and Fleamont warned them that the magical crowd would gather at night. It did not disappoint. 

Dozens of obnoxiously sized beach umbrellas littered the beach. Toy brooms zoomed up and down the coastal waters, sometimes carrying small children or full sized adults. Parasailing was done a little differently than when the muggles inhabited the beach; instead of large sails holding them up in the air, the wizards would use their wands to levitate their families high into the sky. James was pretty sure that half of what he saw on the beach in Antigua would be illegal in England, but when he said so to Sirius, his friend shrugged him off.

“More reason to do it here, where they can’t throw us into Azkaban.”

“That’s never stopped you before,” James grumbled as he hoisted their own obnoxiously large umbrella and stabbed it sharply into the sand. He sighed and walked around the umbrella with his eyes to the sky in the distance. “Mum said the fireworks are brilliant, but there are too many umbrellas in the way.”

“So, there’s plenty of coastline,” Sirius said as he swiped the umbrella and hauled it over his shoulder. “Let’s go find a private beach.”

James followed along with his best mate. Every once in a while the sand under his bare feet would give way and he’d stumble. Sirius would crack a joke about how his reflexes are shite and they’d best hold new auditions for Chasers on the Quidditch team at school this year. James would chuck sand at Sirius’ hair. Sirius would flip him a pointed finger gesture and pretend to knock him on the head with the umbrella. 

It took them less than a quarter hour of a walk to find a nice, secluded and quiet beach. Surrounded by dark rock, the golden sand had low tide and plenty of space. Sirius thrust the umbrella into the sand. He sat, no towel or blanket under him, and dug his heels into the warm ground. James sat beside him and pulled out his wand. Notice-Me-Not firmly in place. 

“Mum’s rules,” he shrugged at Sirius’ inquisitive glance. “Ever since You-Know-Who started moving, she wants me to use the spell if I’m not at Hogwarts or with her and dad.”

“Ah.” And he went quiet as he stuffed his fists into the pockets of his swim costume. 

James knocked his shoulder against Sirius and cocked his head to the side. “You’re not allowed to sit and stew on your shite, either. Mum’s rules.” 

Sirius offers him a genuine, small smirk and shakes his shaggy hair out of his eyes. “It’s just — I know that I’m more of a danger now than before and your mum and dad took a big risk—”

“Stop, Pads.” James grabbed him by the bicep and squeezed. “ _ You _ were in danger and at risk before you left.  _ We _ didn’t want you to stay there. Mum is over the moon that you came to us and she wouldn’t change it.” 

“I know Euphemia loves me, but—” Sirius sighed. “I would massacre the entire planet if something happened to you because of me.” 

James’ hand glided from his bicep and wound around his neck. He didn’t care that they were out in the open and surrounded by people. Even if the umbrella didn’t have a privacy spell on it, he’d have done it anyway. He held Sirius close, for possibly too long. He held onto his best friend until the first  _ boom _ rang through the island and sparkles lit up the sky. Even then, they stayed close, shoulder to shoulder, on the hot beach and under the bright, neon moon.

“Nothing is going to happen to me, Padfoot.” James assured him as earnestly as he could muster. “The Ministry will defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and--”

“The Ministry won’t do anything, James, come on.” Sirius pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it to James. “Do you know how much old money is being funneled to the Ministry for the Dark Lord? More than what’s in my vault.” 

“Then that new group that mum was talking about — The Order of the Phoenix!” James threw the coin as hard as he could into the ocean. “Dumbledore leads them, Padfoot. He won’t lose.”

Sirius grimaced and laid his head on top of James’ shoulder. Something seemed to hang in the air between them, but before James could ask, Sirius smiled again. “You’re too fucking good for this world, Potter. Watch the fireworks.”

So, he did. His best friend’s head on his shoulder, James’ arm wrapped around his neck. He kept his eye on the red and gold fireworks lighting up the sky. Sometimes, they’d crinkle in the air and sometimes the flames wouldn’t go out until they hit the water. It seemed to go on for ages, and James was perfectly content to stay there until the world came to an end. 

And perhaps, one day, with the darkness creeping ever closer to their lives, it would. But, as long as it happened with Sirius by his side, James was okay with that. If he could live everyday with Sirius like that — fireworks coloring his pale face and the crash of the waves dictating the rhythm of his heartbeat, it would be a life well lived.


End file.
